Objective evaluation of aesthetic characteristics of terry pile structures using image analysis technique

An objective evaluation method for assessing aesthetic appearance of terry fabric by image processing technique is suggested. Surface texture characteristics such as energy, entropy, inertia and uniformity index (UI) have been estimated by different image processing techniques. Fast fourier transform (FFT) power spectrum method is used to estimate the surface roughness in terms of fractal dimension (FD). Subjective evaluation of appearance for different fabric samples has been carried out and its correlation with image processing based texture characteristics is determined. Effect of different fibre, yarn and fabric construction variables on surface appearance is investigated. Negative correlation is obtained between fractal dimension & energy while rest of the parameters have resulted good positive correlation. Combed pile yarn fabric gives higher disordered and less homogeneous surface than the pile structure made from carded yarn. Pile structure produced from longer & fine staple cotton fibre gives more homogeneous, less disordered, low local variation, low effective pile height variation and smoother fabric surface. The finer yarn as pile gives more homogeneous, less disordered, low local variation, better pile uniformity and smoother surface compared to coarse yarn pile fabric.